Sorry, the little tab at the top said "New options, want to try them out?" I just couldn't resist.
Alright. The Stranger....by Albert Camus. To be honest, I liked The Plague better. Well, que sera sera, it's a groundbreaking book. It is his first, after all. He also wrote "The Myth of Sisyphus" the same year. Well, you've heard my lectures on Camus and his absurdity and The Stranger is exactly the same. According to the back of the book, he was thrust into a "senseless murder." Does the word senseless sound familiar? Because it is absurd. This man does things like murder, love, attends his mother's funeral, makes promises, and all with a complete lack of feeling. Except perhaps towards the dog. But we'll get to that later. First, for a motif.
HEAT - While this guy was burying his mother, he kept mentioning the oppressive heat. They made the traditional walk from the nursing home to the church and it was hot. Very hot. There was this old man who, they said, was almost engaged to his mother despite their ages. He was very old and yet honored his mother enough to walk the distance. He cut corners of fields and struggled along, only to collapse at the church. According to the nurse, " She said, 'If you go slowly, you risk getting sunstroke. But if you go too fast, you work up a sweat and then catch a chill inside the church.' She was right. There was no way out." Also, on the beach, he killed a man because he got crazy with the heat, it seems. That was his defense and it says " The sun was the same as it had been the day I'd buried Maman, and like then, my forehead especially was hurting me, all the veins in it throbbing under the skin. It was this burning, which I couldn't stand anymore, that made me move forward." Interpret it how you will, it seems to be the impulsive burning of the senseless world when confronted with a decision: to mourn, which he didn't, to kill or move on, which he chose to kill. When he is moved to prison, he does not feel heat, and on the day of his trial, the entire room burns because another major decision is to be made: death or no death.
This novel is all about the Absurd Man, who is a STRANGER in the world. Stranger, get it? He gets used to everything and feels nothing. He turns to regular pursuits and feels no pleasure in them but does them because they are expected of him. He gets used to prison, for goodness sake.
2 things I want to touch on before I close this novel for good:
1. There was an old man at the apartments who had this old dog that he hated. After his wife died, he got a dog to kick around. Every evening they would go on a walk and kick and mumble and yell and swear up and down the street. Pobre perro. It ran away. The old man was distraught. He was lonely. He was used to his wife, he was used to his dog, and he missed the previous life simply because he was used to it. Just like Meursault got used to his life before prison and missed it. Simply because he was used to it.
2. Meursault, upon his trial and other circumstances, simply wanted over and over to explain himself, which he never really got an opportunity to do. The prosecutor and defense attorney gave their speeches and did their dance and probably got a drink after. But he never got a chance to defend himself. Camus likes to point out not only the senselessness of the universe but also the senselessness of the government, but more specifically, the justice system. Camus harped on it a lot during The Plague (the injustice of the justice system was part of the human plague).
Alright, as for a review? Recommendation? I really didn't like it. Want a real good overview of absurdist theory in something? Read The Plague (Le Peste) for a novel and The Guest (L'Hote) for a short story and The Myth of Sisyphus for an essay. And please read a short biography or context something before or after reading! It will make more sense! He was depressing for a reason!
